Easter Monday

What a surprise to check my counter and find visitors here have doubled from the last count! Wow. I can only guess this means many of you are back from giving up blogging for Lent? Welcome, and don't be shy, comments are always the best part.

This Easter, I determined to not be a hypocrite and skip church. Ever since a priest refused to give me absolution during confession years back, I cut out the middle man, and have had no need for organized religion. Weddings and funerals, that's about it for my attendance. With the kids though, I liked to try and at least give them some sort of foundation, but finally decided I didn't want to be one of those people who show up only for Easter or Christmas and hog up the seats normally taken by the regular congregants. For some reason, my husband, a man who confuses Jonah and Pinocchio, in spite of the fact his father was a Methodist Sunday school teacher, planned for us all to go.

We stayed on the island this weekend. There are no stores or restaurants out there, just mostly single-family houses, but there is one darling little white clapboard chapel that hosts a supposedly non-denominational, but in reality completely Catholic, service. We had attended a few times when we first bought the place, but after awhile, the novelty wore off. After the kids had eaten a breakfast of chocolate bunnies and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, we all got dressed and walked down the beach about a mile or so to attend Mass. We even arrived a little early to try and get a seat since there are no regular congregants to squeeze out. It was curious, there were no golf carts, the usual mode of island transportation, and no people around. The church doors were closed tight and the rope that marks the entrance to the churchyard was strung across the path. No sign on the door. No sign on the community bulletin board. Oh, well. So we enjoyed a lovely stroll home, via the slower inland route of twisty sand tracks that pass for roads out there. I say we still get points for trying.

The night before Easter, Holy Saturday for those of you in the know, S, G, and I watched Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ on a DVD my husband bought me about a year ago. I thought it might be an appropriate time to crack it open and finally take a look at it. Actually, Good Friday would have been more appropriate, but we were too busy having a bonfire and eating fried alligator tail that night. Anyway, I have to say, I was a little underwhelmed by the whole production. Sets, costumes, and the use of ancient languages were all pretty good, but the acting didn't move me. There were too many close-up shots of Jim Caviezel, left eye swollen shut and the right giving some meaningful look to someone off camera. It could've been the same sequence used over and over again for the frequency it was shown. The flashbacks did not smoothly segue and felt a bit forced or contrived. Honestly, Braveheart, which we also watched at some point over the weekend, makes me tear up more than than The Passion did. I was so hoping for more. Maybe it was impossible to live up to the hype. Or the reality.

I hope you all enjoyed a happy Easter, or simply a happy Sunday.